Bearable
by Chelderado
Summary: She had seen the last great Shinobi war, fought in it, lived through it (barely) and to this day she swore she could still feel it within every part of her body. She could still feel every movement she made on that battlefield and it still made her body ache. -A fic about the characters and OC after the war trying to get back to normal life. Multiple pairings and a little smut.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone, first of all thank you for reading. Second of all usual disclaimer here, I obviously do not own Naruto. Thirdly, this story is set after the war and I'm aware some things don't quite follow what happened, they're only minor and also because I'm not 100% up to date (I'm not far off though).**** If you don't like OC's the story won't be for you. With that said, thanks for reading and enjoy!**

* * *

These days Minako found herself holding the importance of the word "goodbye" higher and higher. You never knew when you would see someone for the last time and as depressing as that thought is, it was common within her line of work as a Shinobi. So many faces she was used to seeing every day had disappeared and often feelings such as regret, guilt , anger and sadness filled her when she remembered these faces. Minako was not foolish, you could not expect to be a Shinobi without experiencing loss, too often did she feel that it would just be a matter of time until someone else precious to her is gone, or perhaps even herself.

But sometimes it all felt ridiculous, to feel this old so young, still only in her twenties (barely) She had seen the last great Shinobi war, fought in it, lived through it (barely) and to this day she swore she could still feel it within every part of her body. She could still feel every movement she made on that battlefield and it still made her body ache some days. She could remember every breath she took out there, because those were precious, so you savored them and you held them close and you focused on getting to your next one.

Breathing in deeply and exhaling slowly, bringing herself back to the present Minako placed the flowers down on her Sensei's grave and traced her fingers over his name slowly and tenderly, offering a warm smile. It had been over a year since the war, almost two, but it doesn't really get any easier, not when the loss is so sudden and so large. Sighing more so to compose herself, she stood up dusting of her jounin pants and white singlet and after a few minutes finally feeling like she had regained the simple energy to talk, she turned around to face Shikamaru who had patiently been waiting there for nearly ten minutes now.

"Thank you." Minako said quietly, Shikamaru shook his, as far as he was concerned there was no need to apologise. Never, not for this.  
"Sorry to bother you on your day off but the Hokage asked if you wouldn't mind-" she cut him off already aware of what he would be asking  
"If I could cover some shifts at the hospital."he let out a slight chuckle, scratching the back of his head, she had been working at the hospital a lot lately over the past year. Go figure, Konoha needed all the medics it could get. People were still recovering, physically and mentally, and with constant construction work to rebuild the village, well, accidents should be expected.  
"Of course I don't mind, I'll head straight over." the two walked in silence exiting the cemetery, it wasn't until a few minutes later that Minako spoke again.

"You seem to be Tsunade-Sama's errand boy of choice recently Shikamaru." she smiled, he muttered a troublesome, she expected nothing less.  
"I think she figures since I complain about being holed up in that office all day I won't mind." Minako laughed and Shikamaru looked annoyed  
"Well maybe you shouldn't be so smart, then you wouldn't have been promoted." she offered, he scoffed  
"What, and end up on troublesome missions with Kiba or Naruto? I don't think so."  
"Shikamaru, with how smart you are I wouldn't be surprised if Tsunade-Sama considered you for the ANBU exams honestly."  
"I'm more than just brains you know." he answered, mock hurt.  
"Really? I was never aware." Sarcasm on her behalf.

Shikamaru was obviously more than capable. He had proven that many times, Minako's thougths flashed to their Chunin exams where he had been the only one to be promoted and while he could have easily been the first to make Jounin he saw no issue with taking things easy and waiting for the rest of his team to catch up before even considering the idea of the Jounin exams. He had proven himself countless times during missions developing well thought out strategies sometimes in less than a minute, then of course there was the whole Akatsuki incident with Asuma, that pained her heart to remember, while they had lost a sensei, Kureni had lost a love, their child a father and herself and Konohamaru an uncle. On top of it all, Minako distinctly remembered the anxiety and fear when they left so recklessly to avenge him. Shikamaru's voice bought her out of her thoughts.

"If you're not feeling well I can tell Sakura, I'm pretty sure Hinata is still around." she smiled apologetically  
"It's fine, I-" she paused not really wanting to explain, not right now. Shikamaru held up a hand to stop her from explaining. That was the good thing about Shikamaru, he never forced himself on anyone and never expected anyone else to do so with him, he had an understanding and he let people do things in their own time, just as he liked to. She smiled at him, they had stopped walking a few minutes ago, the paths to the hospital and back to the Hokage tower now being separate. "Are you working tomorrow?" she finally spoke, he shook his head no, slightly confused as to how she ended up with that question "We should get lunch." she left the words hanging in the air, not giving him time to answer yes or no and simply continued walking towards the hospital.

* * *

** I'm fine with constructive criticism but please try not to be mean (there is a difference between honesty and being rude)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone, first of all thank you for reading. Second of all usual disclaimer here, I obviously do not own Naruto. Thirdly, this story is set after the war and I'm aware some things don't quite follow what happened, they're only minor and also because I'm not 100% up to date (I'm not far off though). If you don't like OC's this story isn't for you. With that said, thanks for reading and enjoy!**

* * *

"Minako-Chan" Sakura smiled greeting her, Minako suspected it was more so from relief rather than happiness at the moment. "we've been so understaffed recently, thank you so much.  
"It's honestly no problem Sakura, it's my job and I am more than happy to help out." she replied retying her dark hair into a more practical ponytail and grabbing a clean pair of scrubs.  
"Remind me to buy you a drink when we finish tonight." Sakura laughed, running a hand through her hair and going over some sort of chart  
"I'll hold you to that."she replied, Sakura smiled looking up from her chart  
"I've got to get going, I'll see you later tonight? Good luck." She called out  
"Yeah, you too." Minako yelled back watching Sakura leave.

If she was going to be nostalgic today, Sakura was definitely someone worth remembering. She always had been capable it was the fact that Sakura had finally found her own sense of self worth that made her even stronger, and if she didn't look more and more like Tsunade-Sama each day, right down to that damn seal on her forehead. She shook her head amazed and headed down towards the pit, as usual. Her medic skills weren't like Sakura's, she had no doubts that she was skilled, but unlike Sakura, Minako's skills had been refined mainly as a battlefield medic, healing her comrades during battle simply so they could stand up and fight again seconds later or patch them up quickly so they would live long enough to make it to safety for the stationary medics to help them.  
This was why she was best suited to work either in trauma surgery or in the pit when she was at the hospital. Minako scoffed, anyone who thought medics were weak Shinobi had another thing coming, they had to have stomachs of steel, endless stamina and near perfect chakra control. Looking dejectedly at all the people around her, she knew it was going to be a long shift and was more than looking forward to that drink (or five) afterwards with Sakura. "Good luck." she whispered to herself.

It had just been that sort of day where brooding in the back of a bar with alcohol and decent company was needed and apparently not just for Minako. Drinks between just herself and Sakura had turned into drinks with Sakura, Naruto, Shikamaru and Ino. They had been there for a little over an hour now, Ino had complained about a particularly annoying mission she had only gotten back from earlier today with Chouji, it wasn't hard just tiresome and repetitive she explained, draining her more than she had hoped.  
Naruto had started to complain something about a mountain of paperwork that wasn't getting any smaller, to which Sakura had lectured if he simply filled out his paperwork when he was given it rather than a week before it was due he wouldn't be in this situation in the first place, to which Ino agreed, Sakura and Shikamaru both looked at her like she couldn't possibly be serious as she too was known for leaving paper work to the last minute. She simply shrugged walking over to the bar to order another drink. Minako stifled a giggle as she took a sip of her drink.

The conversation began to turn to the hospital upon Ino's return, she had asked how it had been whilst she had been away (Ino too working at the hospital when she didn't have missions.) Both Sakura and Minako visablly recoiled at the mention of the hospital. Ino sighed  
"That bad huh?" she simply said,  
"Seeing the disappointed faces from people trying to complete their recovery from injuries as far back from the war gets a little taxing I guess." Sakura tried to shrug nonchalantly but her face gave her away, Minako could have sworn Naruto looked guilty. Ino looked at her hoping for a better response  
"Don't look at me, I am sick of people coming in with simple breaks from their own stupidity of not wearing safety gear inside the damn construction zones. I'm just about ready to glue them all into protective gear myself. Honestly" she scoffed, Naruto, Ino and Shikamaru all laughed whilst Sakura seemed to seriously consider the idea for a moment. "You're not serious are you Sakura?" Minako asked, now laughing as well.  
"Well..." Sakura trailed off joining in on the laughter.

A few hours later Ino had bid them goodbye, still exhausted from her mission and Sakura had opted to leave with her, no doubt exhausted herself.  
"So tell me Na-ru-to" Minako spoke with a sly grin  
"This can't be good" Shiakamaru muttered sliding out of the booth and walking up to the bar  
"Nice to know you've got my back!" Naruto called out, he turned back around to face Minako and nearly jumped out of his seat in shock to find her leaning across the table and inches from his face  
"How's Hinata-Chan?" she asked, Naruto blushed and visibly tensed and she thought it was just so damn cute. You'd think all those years with Jiraiya would make him less shy about these sorts of things, she sighed, another dead shinobi she had unintentionally remembered today, she would have to remind herself not to have such a nostalgic day tomorrow. Ruffling his hair she slid back into her seat.  
"I'm only teasing, sorry Naruto." she laughed, he seemed to relax, whether he was actually shy about the situation or didn't like to discuss it out of respect for Hinata's own shyness about their relationship, she wasn't sure, either way she guessed it wasn't really her business, no matter how curious she was about their cute little romance.

Downing the rest of her drink and stood up to leave, she must have had a little more than she thought, she hadn't even noticed Naruto's hand steadying her.  
"Are you going to be okay Mina-Chan?" he asked, his concern was nice. If she was glad to have any friend it was definitely Naruto, Though he could be a little slow on the uptake sometimes he honestly did try with all his heart and it was amazing to think that this man standing next to her (now a few inches taller than her, she could have sworn they used to be around the same height as kids) is Konoha's loved number one knuckle head ninja. Everything he had been through was absolutely astounding, how one person can have that much resolve was beyond her, but it was endearing, she trusted Naruto with her life.

Smiling softly at him nodding a yes "Thank you Naruto." she spoke pulling him in for a hug, he obviously hadn't expected it because it took him a second until she felt him return it. He was so warm, reminding her of honey and summer and anything lovely and heart warming you could possibly want on a bad day and right now it was really nice and damn she had to stop being so damn nostalgic before she started crying on the poor blonde jounins shoulder. "I'll see you around yeah." She pulled away from the hug and left the bar.

"Hey Shiakamaru, have you spoken to Mina-Chan lately? the blonde asked  
"You just saw her not even thirty seconds ago you idiot." he replied, Naruto made a 'tut' sound in annoyance, for a genius this guy could be thick sometimes.  
"No, I mean actually spoke to her about whats going on and stuff, she seemed down today." Shikamaru seemed to consider this for a moment and finished his drink  
"Yeah, earlier today, but she didn't want to talk about things, besides why should it be my problem?" Naruto slapped him upside the head "What was that for!?"  
"Geeze, and people say I'm dense?" Naruto muttered something else incoherent under his breath which annoyed Shikamaru further, Naruto just waved him off "Just talk to her at some point will ya?"  
"Fine. Tch, troublesome." he muttered, Naruto rolled his eyes and bid his friend a goodbye.


End file.
